Boys and Girls
Dear Doctor,
We have a new son, just a baby.
He is our first child. I grew up in a family of girls, my dad the only male in the house. My husband says there is a lot of difference between boys and girls that has nothing to do with their surroundings. I disagree.
What do you think?
New Mom
Dear New Mom,
Oh, there is a difference alright, and it has little to do with environment.
Surely you have noticed men and women think and behave differently? The reason is testosterone, and all of its neurological friends.
Men tend to be more right brained. Therefore, they are more "hands on" with tasks, women less so. Men communicate differently. A woman says "I love you" with feeling and asks, plaintively, "and do you love me, too?"
Her guy is likely to respond, "Well I am still here, OK?" Women tend to remember things associated with feeling and affect. Men recall detail and become irritated with long recollections. Men tend to be more objective, sometimes a bit detached. Women are more people oriented.
Of course, none of this is absolutely and always true, but it does point to gender differences that are more than experience based. If you want a successful research experiment in the social sciences, sex differences in behavior is always a sure winner. Some statistics that tell a less favorable side of testosterone reveal that boys are two times more likely to fail in school than girls. A man is three times more likely to be assaulted in the course of his life. Men are four times more likely than women to commit suicide and have a five times greater possibility of murdering someone else. Men are ten times more likely than women to be imprisoned. The energy which testosterone brings to a male life is delightful and fuels creativity. The difference in developmental success and failure usually rests with the environment. That’s where you come in!
Tags: difference between boys and girls, gender differences, girls and boys, men and women
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